According to the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics), the average technical writer salary in 2014 was $69,930, with a mean hourly wage of $33.19.

The lowest 10% salaries averaged $41,450, with an hourly wage of $19.93, while the top 10% best paid technical writers had an annual wage of $108,460, which breaks down to an hourly wage of $52.14.

A technical writer is in charge with producing a wide range of technical materials and maintenance instructions. The job is required to fill positions in various domains that make the technical writer salary differ considerably. With the fewest employees, the Specialized design industry is the best paid, offering an hourly mean wage of $41.20. The most lucrative field is the Computer Systems design industry that has the most employees and offers an hourly mean wage of $36.59.

Industry	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage
Specialized Design Services	$41.20	$85,700
Other Information Services	$41.15	$85,600
Wholesale Electronic Markets and Agents and Brokers	$40.32	$83,870
Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing	$39.81	$82,810
Federal Executive Branch (OES Designation)	$38.22	$79,500

Technical writer salary by location

There are several criteria that are factored in when determining the technical writer salary. Besides experience and employer, two factors that play an important role, geographic location can also influence the annual mean wage of a technical writer.

State	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage
California	$40.85	$84,960
Connecticut	$39.10	$81,330
Maryland	$38.47	$80,010
District of Columbia	$38.44	$79,950
Washington	$38.41	$79,890

 

Technical writer benefits

According to the employer, technical writers have different benefits. The latest figures on 2015 show an average technical writer salary of 53,842. Based on this average, employers are expected to meet the following requirements:

Core Compensation	Median	% of Total
Base Salary	$53,842	69.10%
Bonuses	$743	1.00%
Social Security	$4,176	5.40%
401K/403B	$1,965	2.50%
Disability	$491	0.60%
Healthcare	$6,592	8.50%
Pension	$3,439	4.40%
Time Off	$6,718	8.60%
Total Compensation	$77,966	100%

 

Technical writer salary per company

The significant difference between the salary of the 10^th percentile, situated in the $40,000 ballpark and the salary of the 90^th percentile who can make more than $100,000 per year can be explained by the size and importance of the employing company.

Job Title	Salary
Google Technical Writer	$125,402
Infosys Technical Writer	$60,874
Qtech Solutions Technical Writer	$57,917
NIIT Technical Writer	$57,440

 

The technical writer salary varies according to geographic location, skill, experience and employer. The demand for the job is continuously increasing, with employees choosing this career path for the log run.

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